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  <title>Introduction</title>
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<h1>Introduction</h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">RMBench Database Modeller</span> is
a tool for graphically designing and maintaining relational database
models.
It provides a collection of views and editors that support the user in
performing the following tasks:</p>
<ul>
  <li>create a database model by manipulating graphical representations
of the underlying relational elements</li>
  <li>view the database model through an arbitrary number of diagrams
that can show different, possibly overlapping aspects of the model</li>
  <li>reverse engineer existing databases into a RMBench model</li>
  <li>forward engineer the model by generating SQL DDL scripts, which
can then be executed directly from the script editor<br>
  </li>
  <li>perform a comparison between the model and an existing database,
also generating DDL statements that modify the database to conform to
the current state of the model<br>
  </li>
</ul>
<p>RMBench has been designed with a keen focus on usability and
completeness in functionality. Many tasks can be executed with a
keystroke, by the click of a mouse button or via drag-and-drop. The
most important
relational elements are supported, such as Tables, Foreign Keys, other
Constraints and Indexes.<br>
<br>
</p>
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<p>It should however be emphasized at this point that <span
 style="font-weight: bold;">RMBench</span> is geared more towards
conceptional modeling than towards fully detailed database-specific
physical modeling. The latter usually requires capabilities that do not
lend themselves well to grapical modelling and are therefore better
performed by specialized tools.
</p>
<hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;">
<p>RMBench is available in 2 editions:<br>
</p>
<ul>
  <li>the community edition is free of charge</li>
  <li>the professional edition comes at a small charge but adds
significant functionality, and the assurance that the RMBench codebase
will be further maintained professionally </li>
</ul>
<p>We hope you enjoy your work with <span style="font-weight: bold;">RMBench</span>
and experience a
significant boost in productivity for your
database modeling tasks. We would like to hear from you both with
critique and encouragement. Dont hesitate to contact us <a
 href="mailto:info@rmbench.com">via email</a> or visit our <a
 href="www.rmbench.com">website</a> where you can access the <a
 href="www.rmbench.com/support">support forum</a> and the <a
 href="www.rmbench.com/tracker">issue tracker</a>.<br>
</p>
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